In a few years, men will be able to communicate more effectively through a machine than face to face. That is a rather startling thing to say, but it is our conclusion.
Interpretation
The quote suggests that technological advances will enhance machine communication to a point where it surpasses human interaction.
J. C. R. Licklider's quote expresses a visionary perspective on the future of communication, indicating that technological advancements will enable machines to facilitate communication in ways that are more effective than traditional face-to-face interactions. This implies a significant transformation in how people relate and interact, raising questions about the implications of machine-mediated communication on personal connections and social dynamics.
In practice
In a tech seminar discussing the future of AI-enhanced communication.
The hope is that, in not too many years, human brains and computing machines will be coupled together very tightly, and that the resulting partnership will think as no human brain has ever thought and process data in a way not approached by the information-handling machines we know today.
I like technology, but 'Black Mirror' is more what the consequences are, and it doesn't tend to be about technology itself: it tends to be how we use or misuse it. We've not really thought through the consequences of it.
People who are more than casually interested in computers should have at least some idea of what the underlying hardware is like. Otherwise the programs they write will be pretty weird.
You can be good at technology and like fashion and art. You can be good at technology and be a jock. You can be good at technology and be a mom. You can do it your way, on your terms.
As we move into an era in which personal devices are seen as proxies for public needs, we run the risk that already-existing inequities will be further entrenched. Thus, with every big data set, we need to ask which people are excluded. Which places are less visible? What happens if you live in the shadow of big data sets?
First we thought the PC was a calculator. Then we found out how to turn numbers into letters with ASCII — and we thought it was a typewriter. Then we discovered graphics, and we thought it was a television. With the World Wide Web, we've realized it's a brochure.
We want to build intelligence that augments human abilities and experiences.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.